Should people leaving jail be made to find a job first?

Question

And contribute to society.

Yes but would it stop them re-offending, and going back to jail to waste more tax payers money.

Why should the tax payer keep them in jail then keep them when they leave aswell.

Answer 1

No, they should work whilst in prison and it should be some form of work that actually makes a profit so that they can pay back their debt to society in hard cash.

If for example they stole a car and the car was recovered they should owe the cost of repairs, compensation to the owner for inconvenience and other ancillery expenses, the cost of bed and board at prison, the cost of magistrates, police and other staff in the justice system. If they were sentenced to one year and it would take two years to pay their debts then they should serve two years unless they can find a job on the outside that pays more.

They should be given every help regarding training and education.

If they kill a man they should owe the man's children what he would have earnt had he survived until the children are earning themselves.

If someone sets fire to a building causing say £100,000 worth of damage then they should owe and pay that amount plus court/police/prison costs etc.

The only excuse for not paying what they owe should be if they die first.

If the politically correct morons would allow this to happen, then ninety per cent of crime would cease to exist overnight.

Answer 2

It would be a wonderful thing if everybody leaving prison could just walk right into a job and immediately become a contributing member of society. The reality is something quite different though. I have watched a few documentaries about the lives, and the problems faced by people leaving prison at the end of their time. If you were the owner of a business, would YOU feel absolutely comfortable hiring somebody who had just served a few years in prison for fraud, child molesting, stabbing somebody in a drunken rage, dealing drugs etc. etc. etc.? The statistics are not all that favorable as far as recidivism is concerned, and many employers are just not prepared to take that kind of a gamble - especially where they are able to choose between an ex-con and somebody with a spotless behavioural record and an excellent job resume. I mean, if you were hiring someone to work in your "Rent-a-Babysitter" business, would you want to take a chance on somebody who had just done three years behind bars for child abuse? There are only just so many jobs available in fast food eateries for "hamburger flippers"
It's definitely a dilemma, because how can anybody know that a particular ex-con is sincerely determined to 'stay straight and fly right"? The answer is, you don't. We always want to think of :Prison as being a place where people not only go to serve a period of "punishment" but also a place of rehabilitation where a person has time to think about his wrong-doing, recognise that it isn't socially acceptable behaviour, and will become enlightened. Sadly, that altruistic thinking is a long way from reality, and Employers know very well that the success of their business depends on their reputation. Reputation can be destroyed by the behaviour of just one employee who does something wrong that harms, or that might have harmed one of that business's clients. I don't know what the answer is, but that sure is the big question.

Answer 3

You can be incarcerated in a local jail, a state prison or a federal prison. All have different release criteria.

Not only do we lock up the real bad guys, we also put everyone who offends our moral sense behind bars. That includes a lot people who were involved in victimless crime.

While we complain about money spent to support the inmate we continue to shove a never ending line of kids through the American penal process. In many cases we create the criminal by placing them in a lifestyle polluted by thugs, rapist, murders and thief's.

The United States cannot be compared to any other penal system in the world. We invented rehabilitation while being incarcerated and have the mind set that it works!

Your question can't have a static answer. Some facilities require the inmate being released have a job lined up, as condition of parole. Others are like the sport fisherman: Catch and release!

In either case, we have to keep our finger crossed and wonder whether that person will be rehabilitated, looking for their next crime to commit or, are they just trying to figure out what they should do.

Answer 4

There should be help so that a job is fixed up for them on leaving prison, and followed up for the next year, if they don't hold down a job and they are let out on early release they have to go back and complete the remainder of their sentence.
They could earn their keep by going out on a sort of chain gang,doing those nasty jobs people don't want to do and in return they might save us the honest tax payer money on our council tax.Hey I know I am dreaming.

Answer 5

The UK has more people (percentage wise) in jail than any other civilised country in the world.

This is because our police are target driven and lock up mentally ill people.

Jail should be used to put people back on the right track, so helping ex-prisoners find work would be very positive.

Ex-prisioners could join the police - set a thief- ; perhaps they would not send e-mails of headless black people to each other!

Answer 6

Before they are released,they should be tested to see if they can be integrated back into society,and to see how they would cope with situations.
Many firms won't take on a person with a criminal record,so it's a bit unfair,but if the government was able to start a scheme for prisoners who wanted to improve their skills and work potential upon release,then this i think would work better.
Because,if they didn't attend the scheme,then they wouldn't be able to receive money of any sort.

Answer 7

We don't force every day citizens to work, and allow some people to sit on their butts and do nothing, so why should we be able to force ex convicts? If they're leaving jail, then they've served their sentence and are free to become regular members of society again. That means the freedom to be a lazy @ss like so many other people.

They should work .. hopefully they will .... we shouldn't have the right to tell them they HAVE to. This isn't a community country.

Answer 8

By law, they've satisfied their debt to society based on the crimes they committed. And, given our society is not generally disposed to giving ex-convicts jobs - you've pretty much ruled out the possibility of them ever leaving jail unless it's to become indentured servants to society as a whole.

Wouldn't it be better to provide them with mechanisms to improve their lives or give them job placement?

There is no easy answer here & each attempt won't work for everyone, but it seems to me your idea is slamming the bars in their faces and never letting them out.

Answer 9

Can I ask you a question. how is someone incarcerated supposed to find work. I know when I was locked up I didn't have much of an opportunity to go on Job interviews.
as for taxpayers footing the bill that's the price we pay to keep ourselves relatively safe when we walk down the streets of our home towns.
and for the record I was locked up when I was 21 years old I am now 45 years old and haven't even gotten a speeding ticket
since I was released at 23 years old.

Answer 10

Should some of them be allowed to leave jail in the first place? I think NOT!!!